2022 Off-season Thread - The Future is Bright

[Cavatt]

I dunno, when Stevens was getting consistent time I thought he definitely looked like a solid contributor…

Wade though was really good at guarding the bigger wing guys we would have put Nance on in the past. Hope he comes back letting it fly from 3

 

[CavsKermit]

I dunno, when Stevens was getting consistent time I thought he definitely looked like a solid contributor…

When the officials are letting it get physical, and he's out there with a shooter like Lauri/Love, and the other team is playing with a SF with legitimate size, and when he played within his game offensively, Stevens was solid in limited minutes. But that many caveats make a guy, almost by definition, a role player.

If the officials are calling the game tight, or if he's asked to guard a smaller/quicker player, or if the guys he's on the floor with don't provide spacing, or if he starts shooting too much, it gets good to him, and he's taking bad shot in crunch time, it was bad.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Stevens played very few minutes against other NBA starting units. There are a whole lot of players in the NBA who look fine against other backups.

 

[Ohioplayer00]

I dunno, when Stevens was getting consistent time I thought he definitely looked like a solid contributor…

Stevens is definitely a solid core depth player! He’ll have a spot on this roster going forward. People skating on thin ice roster wise is Windler, Brown, Davis, and Nembhard. None of these guys are guaranteed roster spots this upcoming season.

 

[Peacedog]

Based on my game-by-game analysis above and taking into consideration outcomes that were affected either injuries to key Cavs players or key opponents, I concluded the Cavs were about a 47-35 team last year once injuries were removed from the equation. I think that will be their starting point next season since there will be no significant losses from last year.

How many additional wins above 47 they can achieve will be mostly determined by injury luck and how much internal improvement can be made, primarily by Mobley and Okoro. The other big factor will be whether they can find a replacement for Rubio - either LeVert, Sexton, Rubio himself, all of the above, or signing a veteran backup point guard with Rubio's skill level.

The wild card is Sexton. Assuming he will be back and fully recovered, how much better, if any, does he make this team?

Okoro, Wade, and Stevens are really going to have to push themselves to get better this summer if they want to maintain their minutes at the level of last season. There's going to be a war for minutes at the off-guard position between Sexton, LeVert, and Okoro. Also at the small forward position between Markkanen, Stevens, and Okoro. There's going to be a mid-first round pick somewhere in the mix as well.

52-55 wins next season.

 

[foucault87]

We had a 50+ win Pythogrean at one point last year, and 47 sounds about right for where we finished. I actually want to see us hit that number before we anoint this a true 50 win team. I am expecting a solid amount of internal improvement from our young guys, especially Okoro and Mobley. Plus, adding a healthy Sexton and Caris should give us a bump.

What I am worried about is reversion to the mean from some of our secondary guys. Will the improvement on the top make up for losing the 30 games of Rubio? Can K Love repeat as the true 6MOTY? Will Cedi look serviceable for 20 games again? What about the end of rotation guys like Goodwin and Moses? Which Lauri is real, the guy who struggles to defend and shoots 30% from 3, or the guy who locked down PG and hit clutch 3 after clutch 3? Its going to be a fun offseason

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Wade though was really good at guarding the bigger wing guys we would have put Nance on in the past. Hope he comes back letting it fly from 3

Wade was very good defensively. According to cleaningtheglass.com, when Wade was on the floor the Cavs were 4.6 points worse offensively than when he was on the bench but 5.5 points better defensively. His net was a +0.9.

He didn't hurt the team but didn't help much, either.

With Love on the floor the Cavs were the same offensively and a little worse defensively for a -1.4 points per 100 possessions. So the difference between Wade and Love as the backup power forward was 2.3 points in Wade's favor.

The biggest difference was usage rate. Love was in the 91st percentile among power forwards - he took a lot of shots and passed out assists. Wade was in the 3rd percentile - he just stayed out of the way on offense and spotted up for 3's.

With LeVert on the team from the beginning of the season and Sexton returning, I don't know how Love is going to fit in. Between Garland, Sexton, LeVert, Markkanen, Mobley and Allen there are a lot of scoring options. To balance the team it might be better to have a guy who plays great D and doesn't need a lot of shots like Wade than a guy who wants the offense to run through him like Love.

 

[Cavatt]

Wade was very good defensively. According to cleaningtheglass.com, when Wade was on the floor the Cavs were 4.6 points worse offensively than when he was on the bench but 5.5 points better defensively. His net was a +0.9.

He didn't hurt the team but didn't help much, either.

With Love on the floor the Cavs were the same offensively and a little worse defensively for a -1.4 points per 100 possessions. So the difference between Wade and Love as the backup power forward was 2.3 points in Wade's favor.

The biggest difference was usage rate. Love was in the 91st percentile among power forwards - he took a lot of shots and passed out assists. Wade was in the 3rd percentile - he just stayed out of the way on offense and spotted up for 3's.

With LeVert on the team from the beginning of the season and Sexton returning, I don't know how Love is going to fit in. Between Garland, Sexton, LeVert, Markkanen, Mobley and Allen there are a lot of scoring options. To balance the team it might be better to have a guy who plays great D and doesn't need a lot of shots like Wade than a guy who wants the offense to run through him like Love.

Getting Wade more involved in the offense long term is a good idea. We need the spacing. I don't know why he was more reluactant to shoot this past year, but maybe it had to do with the knee. They say he played on it for a long time. Lower body injuries don't helo you shoot.

One thing Wade allowed us to do was put him on the bigger scoring threat with Love out there. Lauri and Love were terrible together in any minutes they shared.

 

[auscavsfan]

Duncan Robinson - Caris LeVert swap. Who says no?

 

[red.]

Duncan Robinson - Caris LeVert swap. Who says no?

Me. I’d pass. Dude can’t even crack the rotation for an injured Heat squad in the playoffs.

 

[auscavsfan]

Me. I’d pass. Dude can’t even crack the rotation for an injured Heat squad in the playoffs.

Feels too early to give up on Duncan when he has been a valuable piece previously. If he can get back to that level, his contract isn't too crazy and we can lock him in for a few years instead of LeVert who will be tough to co-exist with Sexton

 

[red.]

Feels too early to give up on Duncan when he has been a valuable piece previously. If he can get back to that level, his contract isn't too crazy and we can lock him in for a few years instead of LeVert who will be tough to co-exist with Sexton

He’s 28. What’s too early? He’s had 2 decent season and 2 bad season. Highest PPG is 13.5.

I’d rather just keep LeVert and Sexton and see if they could play together.

 

[NMCav]

Duncan Robinson - Caris LeVert swap. Who says no?

LeVert has 1 year left. Duncan has 4. Duncans contract is an anchor. Miami will eventually have to attach something just to move on from his contract.

 

[Cavatt]

LeVert has 1 year left. Duncan has 4. Duncans contract is an anchor. Miami will eventually have to attach something just to move on from his contract.

It's hard for me to think he is really worth it when Strus is playing ahead of him. Also remember Larry Nance looking like Hakeem against him

 

[Jscc]

I think the starting point going into next season will be the DG, LeVert, Lauri, Mobley, and JA starting lineup and then arranging the bench around maximizing its effectiveness and minimizing the weaknesses. With our projected depth [Sexton returning, drafted wing, etc.,], nobody should have to be run into the ground.

DG and Mobley need to be the keys though. Hopefully Mobley comes out and takes that next step offensively we all saw DG take last season.

 

[auscavsfan]

With our projected depth [Sexton returning, drafted wing, etc.,], nobody should have to be run into the ground.

Very curious what will happen with our back-up PG situation. If Rubio returns, thats great, but we will need someone until the all star break to serve in his role until he's healthy. Do we trust Goodwin enough? Would we use pick #39 on a backup PG?

If not, the main free-agent options would be names like Tyus Jones, Schroder, Austin Rivers, Raul Neto?